Farm fields

[bailey1]

I'm just curious about detecting farm fields. I have hunted mostly old home sites for relics and an occasional coin. Also, old school yards from time to time. Anyone had any luck in fields that have been farmed for many years? They are in abundance and I would think many would be accessible. I have been in a few and I own one that had been farmed since late 1800's. I have only one flat button from these fields. What has been your experience?

 

[kaolinwasher]

I had some of my best finds out of a small farm field three silver quarters an 1905 ,1926. and a 1948 all spread out in the middle of nowhere

 

[DetectorCollector]

My best finds to date(value wise)were found in a farm field,I'm going back to 2004 when the CZ-3D was introduced.My friend and I received permission to detect a farm field dating back to the latter part of the 1700's.I only had my 3D about a week or so and about an hour into the hunt I received a solid high tone.I kneeled down popped a plug and about 4" deep a beautiful 1798 large cent appeared.It must have just been dropped way back when because it was in almost perfect shape.Within
about 20 minutes or so another nice solid high tone.Once again kneeled down popped a plug and about 5 or 6" deep was a find of a lifetime (actually they both were) for me.It was a 1787 Fugio cent.Ben Franklin actually had a hand in that coins design.I couldn't believe my eyes and I was shaking to say the least.The 1798 large cent and 1787 Fugio are actually 2 rare birds.We did dig a few more large cents that night (1810,1811,1817) and 3 spanish Reales.It was one of the best hunts of my life.I wish times were better back then as I was forced to sell due to financial reasons.The rare 1798 sold for just over $1200 and the 1787 Fugio fetched just over $600 due to its poor condition.Times are a little better now but I still have not bested those 2 incredible finds and I probably never will.However if I do I can promise they will not leave my collection.You just never know what your going to stumble on.Happy Hunting!
'

 

[azsh07]

Farm fields seem to run either hot or cold and rarely in between in my experience and I hunt them a lot in New England.

Almost all of our top finds have come from them. We split between fields and celar holes etc. This comes from 30 years of this.

Funny thing is this. You can get into a big field and it will be dead for most of it and then you hit hot spots....almost when you were ready to give up. One of our best fields we called the field of dreams gave up so many colonial coins including a Pine Tree shilling.....yet when we first hit it we thought it sucked the first two times. Until we hit the hot zones.

LArgely depends on what the field WAS ALSO USED FOR. Don't just think farming. In our area they may have been used for muster fields also...or one held town picnics every year in the 1800's etc. Then again some were just farmed but if it is still a field today then it has been for 300 years plus..... at least here.

Also one has to consider the local economy....ie....in more remote towns the population was dirt poor and very little money changed hands. Many times it was barter trade so not much coinage is found...mainly buttons. Now get closer to the seacoast where the wealthy lived then the coin finds rise.

Now our field of dreams...it was on the seacoast and it was directly behind a 1700's tavern.....so....gues why we found over 70+ colonial coins, hundred of buttons etc.

This reflects my area but will hold true anywhere.

Now...there is always the oddball field. Example....we were driving around one day looking for a new spot. Getting blanked all day. Saw a big hay field by a colonial farmhouse that field was just cut. Not near any big town...or anything but we was desperate. Got permission and 5 of us hit it that day. At first some buttons and tack but nothing great. Then when we moved closer to the road we hit quite a few coins and ended up with 4 bust dimes being dug as well as a some large cents a few king George coppers and some seated dimes. Ended up being a great one day trip. But why there...? Dont have a clue...just the way the fields go.

Some are hot...some are cold as ice....but its fun finding out and you have to hit the entire field to know as again it seems to run in hot spots.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I suspect that if detector-collector found some goodies in a random farm field, that there was probably something going on there, besides mere cultivation. Just as azsh07 says: It depends on if something were going on there , or very close by anyhow. Like a tavern, camp spot, battle spot, or ..... whatever.

Because if it's just "random farm fields", then no, they are typically a poor choice. You will go LOOONGGG between good coin finds, if you're angling for random fumble fingers losses of those who worked the field-labor. Ie.: planting, harvesting, etc.... (in the era before mechanization now means that hardly any foot traffic goes on in some crops, doh!).

Perhaps in Europe, where there's been continuous cultivation of the same fields for 1000 or 2000 years (95% of that hand-work before the modern era of mechanization), then yes: In countries that old, you can go out to "any random farm field" and find coins, buttons, etc... But here in the USA, we just haven't had the history and amount of time to make that "random" hunting worthwhile, IMHO. So we USA hunters study to find out where old habitations/homes were, stage stops, camps, parks, or ...... SOMETHING that brought foot-traffic, commerce ($$ changing hands), is always the best places to detect.

This really hit home at a place here in CA that is now just lettuce& brocolli fields near me. In the 1790s to 1820s, it had been the site of a contact era indian rancheria. But by the 1820s, it dwindled and was abandoned. Then starting in about the 1920s or so, it became row crops, and remains so to this day. Naturally, when we detect there, we're angling for Spanish reales and buttons, right ? But yes: An occasional nuisance wheatie or buffalo nickel, and one time even a silver washington quarter surfaced. Those were obviously modern field worker losses. But it occurred to me, that we had put in 100's of hours hunting this field, over 15+ yrs. , each fallow time. And while, yes, an occasional wheatie or clad turns up, yet it would NOT have been worth it to have worked these fields, if those were our goal. Even on the east coast, where admittedly fields have been cultivated 100 or 200 yrs. longer, it still seems to me that you're much better off angling where something , like a structure/home, saloon, stage stop, trading post, etc.... had been .

 

[DetectorCollector]

There was indeed something going on there as Tom indicated.Not far from this field was one of George Washington's headquarters.I am very fortunate to live in an area of extensive Revolutionary and Civil War history.The land has since been sold and gaining access will not be as easy anymore.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... There was indeed something going on there....

Correct. So when that is given out as example "are fields worth hunting", you almost have to add in the post-script, that this is not just a "random field" , for if someone's question were about that. In your case, it had something on it (or nearby enough), that it's probably not just "random field"

I know if England, they can just whip into any fallow field, and ...... if you swing long enough, you will find coins from the BC era all the way to modern. BUT EVEN THERE they ALSO much-prefer those fields where, go figure: Something had gone on there. Ie.: past villas, river crossing entry-points, cross-roads, trading post, etc... And they determine that, for instance, by the presence of roof tile fragments in the field, color of the soil, etc.... So even there some fields are better than others, based on "if something went on there" (aside from just normal cultivation).

 

[bailey1]

Thanks for the response guys. Kind of what I was thinking Tom. Almost had to be some activity besides farming that is producing coins for some in these cultivated fields. Never could wrap my head around farm labor in the field with coins in there pocket (back in the day). The very few that I have hunted, while not producing coins, have been different experiences. One very clean, one produced a flat button and a surprising amount of old square nails and other iron, and one produced buttons, heel plates and musket balls were in abundance. These three fields were within 500 yards of one another. I am in upstate South Carolina. The midlands and low country of S.C. as well as parts of N.C. and Ga. are still pretty productive in civil war relics. The upstate has some revolutionary war history. I will continue to put the bulk of my time in old home sites, but leave the fields on the table with a little research.

 

[bootyhoundpa]

[attachment 326680 20150422_1853311.jpg][attachment 326681 20150422_1842061.jpg][attachment 326682 20150422_1842221.jpg] almost all my large cents came from farm fields..lots of good advice already posted.. best if a homestead once existed there.. like mentioned above they are either hot or cold and those trashy places can withold good stuff for years until they get tilled up within range.. a source of water such as a small stream or spring can sometimes be good as water equalls life man and farm animals cant live without it... good luck, do a little research ,play a few hunches and you're bound to hit a good spot sooner or later..horse shoes,square nails flat buttons are all good signs that old coins should be there...

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Great pix of LC's You make us west coast guys sick sick sick ! Question for you: When you go to hunt a farm field (cultivated crops land), do you go to just "any random field" there on the east coast ? Or are you researching to know if you're on or close to something that went on. Ie.: a home had been there, etc... ?

Or let me put it this way: Do you just go to "any random field" and hope that it evidences something having gone on there ? Or do you only hunt those that you ALREADY suspect (via research or whatever) had something going on there ?

Because here on the west coast, NO one just goes to "random row crops" (or orchards, etc...) unless they had some reason to suspect something had gone on there, before they start.

 

[bootyhoundpa]

In my area it is very rich in farming historically speaking.... all houses outside of town were farms of some sort...many were simular somewhat to southern plantations in that you would have a large house with a large plot of land and then another and another just notas much acerage as down south...my area has some french indian war history so thats like 1750s... i had a man approach me in a field one day and we got to talking ,we sort of knew each others families in a round about way,anyway this guy has been an indian arrowhead picker all his life and man did he give me some good info... he told me of every field he's ever hunted that had old glass or pottery shards and I'll tell what it seemed like every spot he put me on paid out... one place i found by reviewing old maps and noticed a dot where no house currently exists... a few of these places were actually gone by 1830s..yes thats right 1830s..needless to say i dug everything but the iron just due to the age ..... so if you know a guy who covers alot of ground walking in farm fields i would recommend chatting with him....

 

[PABootymeister]

I found about 7 New Jersey coppers and my friend found about 11 in a farm field near the NY/NJ border. The field was actually in NY about 2mi from NJ. Most of them were dated around 1786 and in poor condition. The field was recently plowed and we also found old pot shards so we surmised that the farmer had hit a cache with his plough and broke it, spreading NJ coppers over several acres.

 

[Mega]

Have just seen my local landowner really deep ploughing a few fields down to about 12'' this will inturn bring up some possible more deep finds,on this one site it has 5 animal enclosures on that go back over a 1000 years,all you can see is the outline of the perimeter walls by using Google earth then hone in on the site the print off from the computer.

This one specific field is i guess 30 acres on a 500 acre permission but has provided about 100 hammered silver coins going back to 1100,so after the ploughed ground has settled for a few days to get rid of the air or fluffy soil as i like to call it then will be hitting the site for possibly the last time as it may go for housing next year,so will keep hitting the field with a bigger coil to get down to the ploughline.

Farmland either ploughed or pasture is always good for finds,pasture as a general rule the finds could be deeper hence this is the reason why we use big coils than for say park or tot lots hunting.The weather has improved so its into full hunting mode till the crops get so tall that we wont be allowed on again till harvest time.

 

[Nauti]

.... There was indeed something going on there....

Correct. So when that is given out as example "are fields worth hunting", you almost have to add in the post-script, that this is not just a "random field" , for if someone's question were about that. In your case, it had something on it (or nearby enough), that it's probably not just "random field"

I know if England, they can just whip into any fallow field, and ...... if you swing long enough, you will find coins from the BC era all the way to modern. BUT EVEN THERE they ALSO much-prefer those fields where, go figure: Something had gone on there. Ie.: past villas, river crossing entry-points, cross-roads, trading post, etc... And they determine that, for instance, by the presence of roof tile fragments in the field, color of the soil, etc.... So even there some fields are better than others, based on "if something went on there" (aside from just normal cultivation).

You are correct Tom,we still research possible sites here in the uk.The advantage we have is that most of our villages have ancient beginnings so searching around most villages over here produces great finds.
A friend of mine and myself searched a village that we knew had medieval history but we ended up getting finds from the roman period onwards.......a total surprise to us but a nice one.

 

[petew]

Look at it this way,those farmers daughters lost more than their innocence in them fields ,back in the day.lol